GMC Doesn’t Intend to Capitalize on Denali Name-Change

It’s been a busy little bit for news, so in case you missed it, President Barack Obama announced on Monday that Alaska’s former Mt. McKinley will henceforth be known as Mt. Denali. In case you’re wondering (or in case you have that one racist friend who tends to post stuff before fact checking), the word Denali is derived from a Native Alaskan word meaning something tantamount to “The High One” and has been the name of the park surrounding the mountain itself for more than 35 years.

Denali, as you may well know, is also a name applied to GMC vehicles of the highest quality, appropriately enough. USA Today asked the brand if the President’s order would have any impact on its naming or its marketing, to which spokeswoman Kelly Wysocki replied no.

2016 GMC Terrain Denali

“The name itself means ‘the high one.’ For us, it’s the ultimate expression of our professional grade. That’s our motto at GMC,” Wysocki said. “It reflects back to Denali. It did have to do with Mt. McKinley.”

Brand Camp University’s Hajj Flemings thinks it would be wise for GM to capitalize on the publicity being raised by the debate surrounding the name change (because what can’t the President do without initiating debate). Perhaps they should just do a limited run of Denalis that are conveniently renamed McKinleys.